Cape Town - The four Uitsig men accused of being involved in criminal gang activity on Tuesday appeared in the Western Cape High Court where Mahlubandile Jacobs testified in his defence.
Jacobs, 26, Dawnay Davids, 19, Moegamat Swarts, 26, and Vincent Davids, 28, are accused of killing Likeshia Joubert and her grandfather Christopher Cornelius on March 26, 2019, and the subsequent killing of Glenda Ruiters, 56, who was shot in the head days later on suspicion that she was a witness to the murder.
During cross-examination, a confident Jacobs denied that he had been involved in the premeditated killing of Cornelius and Likeshia, stating that the allegation was “untrue”. He said it was “not true” that he visited Cornelius a day before the shooting in an attempt to extort money from him.
State advocate Liezel Scholzel put it to him that a witness had testified that Jacobs tried to protect her when they shot and killed Ruiters, but he persisted through smirks and smiles that he had no knowledge of the incident.
“She couldn’t believe you were part of the gang because you were never rude,” advocate Scholzel said. “I never spoke to her,” Jacobs replied.
He also denied any association or knowledge of the “Ama Don’t Care” gang after Scholzel put it to him that several witnesses had identified him as standing on corners in Uitsig proclaiming his membership.
“This ‘Ama Don’t Care’, I only heard about it in prison, that’s the first time I heard about it,” Jacobs said.
Explaining why he thought so many witnesses would try to implicate him as a gang member, Jacobs said the community associated him with gang membership because his uncle had been a leader of the “G-Unit” gang in Uitsig; as a result he and other family members, including the two Davids men, had been perceived as such by the community, gang members, and police.
He said he had a history of being part of a prison gang and was a member of the “G-Unit” gang before, but at the time of the incident he was no longer associated with them.
Uitsig residents had been conspiring against him pertaining to the charges he is currently facing, he said.
Jacobs said on the day of the incident he was in Gugulethu staying with family; he had been forced to relocate after he was targeted in a shooting months before.
The court will reconvene today for possible testimony from an alibi witness.